After missing the first part of the season with knee problems, Rockets guard Patrick Beverley plans to be ready next week, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Beverley had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee October 25th. Doctors expected him to be sidelined four to six weeks, but he vowed to return earlier. Houston has games scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and Beverley didn’t specify which one will mark his comeback. “I’m completely healed,” Beverley said. “I did a lot of contact [Friday]. I’ve been getting a lot of contact. It’s up to me to get my rhythm. I don’t want to come in and play limited minutes. When I come back, I’m going to be full force. I can’t say what coach is going to do or how many minutes I’m going to play. But when I come back, I come back to play an overtime, a double overtime game.”

There’s more news out of the Southwest Division:

The Pelicans are still waiting for confirmation that Jrue Holiday will be returning soon, according to William Guillory of The Times-Picayune. A published report Friday indicated that Holiday, who has taken a leave of absence to care for his ailing wife, will be back next week. However, coach Alvin Gentry cautions that nothing is definite until Holiday provides confirmation. “We’re anticipating him coming back real soon, but we don’t have any answers until we hear back from Jrue and his people,” Gentry said. “When we hear from Jrue and his people, that’s when it’ll become official. We want him back as soon as we possibly can, but we’ll only know that when Jrue and his agent say, ‘Hey, he’s ready to come back and this is when he’s gonna be back’.”

Gentry likes how Solomon Hill performed Thursday in his first game off the bench, relays Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com. Hill came to New Orleans in July on a four-year, $48MM contract and began the season as a starter. “He was a little more comfortable in that situation, and it gave him more opportunity to do a little more with that second group than he would with the first group,” Gentry said.

A slow start hasn’t changed the Mavericks‘ goal of making the playoffs, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Free agent addition Seth Curry and rookie Dorian Finney-Smith have helped right the ship after an 0-5 start, and the Mavs are looking forward to getting injured stars Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams back in the lineup. “This is a playoff organization,” said Justin Anderson. “But it’s way early in the season. Once Dirk gets healthy and D-Will gets back and we start rolling with those guys, I wouldn’t be surprised with the talent we have if we start reeling off some wins in a row.”